Scholarships

Scholarships are gifts you do not have to pay back. Scholarships can be based on need, merit, talent (visual and performing arts), volunteerism, religious affiliation, organizational affiliations and many others. You may receive scholarships from colleges, organizations, or foundations.

Different scholarships are available for different types of students. Scholarships may be based on your grades, what you want to study in college, whether you are male or female, or your after-school activities.

You can improve your chances of getting a scholarship by:

Getting good grades

Doing well on the ACT or SAT tests

Active involvement in your school’s clubs and organizations

Submitting your college applications early

Meeting deadlines and eligibility criteria

Following directions carefully

When applying for scholarships, pay attention to the deadlines and the eligibility criteria. Follow the directions carefully.

CPS has a new web-based scholarship application system called CPS Academic Works.

Academic Works is a web-based scholarship management tool for Chicago Public Schools 3rd – 12th grade students. Students are able to apply for many CPS Strategic Scholarships through Academic Works. All CPS Strategic Scholarships and almost 200 external scholarships can be found in in the system! Every scholarship that is in the CPS College Scholarship Guide is listed in the system. Every new scholarships are added to the system during scholarship season (December – May).

There will be no paper applications for CPS Strategic Scholarships such as the Wentcher Foundation Scholarships, CME Group Mayoral Award for Student Achievement, City Treasurer’s Black History Month Essay Competition Scholarship, CPS Dream Fund Scholarship. CPS students will only be able to apply for many of the CPS Strategic Scholarships through Academic Works.

No paper applications to complete! Most of the CPS Strategic Scholarship applications are online. Letters of recommendation, electronic recommendation forms, official transcripts and many other documents can be uploaded to the system. Students will be able to view the status of recommendation requests they have submitted and can send reminders to their recommenders.

The system will match students to scholarships for which they meet the minimum requirements. This can only happen once the students have completed the Academic Works General Scholarship Application.

Review almost 200 scholarships and free summer programs through the system.

Scholarships and scholarship programs in CPS Academic Works:

There are three types of opportunities in the system:

“Recommended” – Academic Works will “recommend” CPS Strategic Scholarships for which you meet the minimum requirements in the “Recommended” Opportunities section of your account.

“Apply” – these are CPS Strategic Scholarship applications embedded in the AW system and managed by the CPS Scholarship Manager.

“External” – these are CPS Strategic Scholarships and other national opportunities that require students to apply on an external site provided by the scholarship provider.